Strength
by PineapplesArePsychic
Summary: Hermione and the gang are going into 7th year but how is Hermione coping at home? And what surprises are in store for Harry and Ron? I know I suck at summaries! But please read it! Mentions abuse.
1. Chapter 1

**AN: This is a Dramione story so if you don't like it, don't read it. Also, it is a slight crossover with Numb3rs but not enough to be put in the crossover section and you do not need any Numb3rs knowledge to understand it. I'd also like to say that if anyone recognises the plot line as their own then I have probably taken inspiration from a story I have read and if you wish I will credit you or even take the story down.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters from Harry Potter or Numb3rs or anything else you may recognise!**

She stood in front of the full length mirror. She surveyed the whole backwards room in front of her. There were times when she wished she could just step inside this backwards world, where she could be safe, but there was no magic that could help her with that. As she glanced at her bedside table and the pictures that lay on it, she thought about how different she was now. One was static, where she and her brother stood smiling blissfully at his 18th birthday party. The second was a moving picture where she and her two friends, Harry and Ron, were chatting animatedly. Well, Harry and Ron were, she was just stood, listening with that fake smile that she had so well perfected spread across her face. The third and final picture was, again, moving. This time she was talking to a blond haired boy with striking gray eyes and, like in the first picture, they both had wide grins spread across their faces. Every now and again she would reach across and slap the boy playfully on the arm. She glanced back at the image of her current self that was staring back at her in the mirror and her mind wandered to how her looks had changed. For starters, her hair had turned from a bushy, brunette mane into a styled, black, messy bob around her head. The eyes that looked back at her had been changed to a piercing green from the boring brown that they used to be. These were the changes that she liked, the ones she had made possible with a flick of her wand. There were, however, some changes that she didn't like. Firstly, she had been forced to wear that fake smile too much over the summer than she should have. Secondly, she was thinner, paler. Many girls would say "What are you complaining for? We'd all like to be thinner", but she had considered herself naturally slim in the first place. Now, in her opinion, she just looked like death warmed up, too thin and too pale. But she was trying not to moan, there was nothing she could do about it for the moment. Finally, there were the bruises. The ones she had been too tired to cover up last night. This she could fix and, with a final sigh, she flicked her wand and they were gone. Well, they were still there, just underneath a whole lot of powdery stuff that she didn't have a name for that was magically applied with that particular spell. Silently, she began to dress in her black jeans and a 3-quarter length blouse with a black waistcoat and some green necklaces and bangles. She could easily slip her school robes on over the top of this without looking completely ridiculous.

"Hermione, are you ready to go. We'll have to leave in about 10 minutes if you don't want to be late."

She stiffened as her mother's voice floated up the stairs towards her. She sighed and, putting on a sickly sweet voice, called down to her mother,

"I'm nearly done mother, I'll get some breakfast on the train."

With a final check of her trunk, she shrank it, put it in her pocket and walked down the stairs to find her mother waiting by the door for her.

"Is Steven not coming with us?"

"No darling, he had to go into work early."

Steven was her stepfather. He was always drinking or had a hangover. He usually went to the station with them, but only so he could complain about how 'spoilt' she was and how they shouldn't let her go to a 'ridiculous magic school'. To make up for this though, when she came home during the summer, he made her cook and clean every day. She was lucky if he was satisfied or too drunk to care, otherwise she got a slap. Or a punch. Or a push into a wall or a table. She also wasn't allowed contact with the wizarding world unless the letter was from Hogwarts. She was only allowed 10 minutes a year in Diagon Alley to buy all her books and anything else she might need. Her mother never stood up for her, just looked on with a glazed look in her eyes, as if she thought that if she didn't look at what was happening properly, then it wouldn't matter if she didn't do anything about it. Anyway, Hermione was always glad to get to school; she was just annoyed that this year would be the last time she could use the wonderful place as an excuse to get away.

Dramione...Dramione...Dramione...Dramione...Dramione

The taxi ride to the station was completely silent, she stared out one window and her mother stared out the other. The driver looked at them strangely through the rear-view mirror but, thankfully, didn't say anything. When they arrived at King's Cross, her mother paid the driver and asked him to wait for her to come back out. In silence, they walked into the station.

When they reached the gap between Platforms 9 and 10, she turned to her mother and gave her a tight hug, as if to say 'It'll be okay'. Unlike most of the other families whose children were going off to Hogwarts, the Grangers had to say their farewells outside the platform. This was simply because, as a precaution, muggles could not get through the barrier to Platform 9 and ¾.

"Are you coming home for Christmas this year darling?"

"No, I don't think so mother. I'll write to you about it nearer the time though."

"Write to me at least once a week anyway."

"Of course mother. I'll see you soon."

"I'll miss having you around. Have fun at school. Work hard."

"I will mother. I'd better get going; I don't want to miss the train."

"Okay dear. Goodbye then."

"Goodbye mother."

With that she set of towards the wall. As she reached it she casually leaned against it and she fell through. As a first year, she had run excitedly at the wall but, as she got older, she had learnt that it was far more graceful to go through it inconspicuously. As she searched the platform for the familiar red heads, she thought about her previous conversation with her mother. Their conversations hadn't always been so impeccably polite, but since Steven had started drinking and doing all the things he did when he was drunk, they had been hardly speaking and when they did it was like that.

She hadn't spotted any of the famous red hair that belonged to the family of Weaslys so she assumed they weren't here yet or they were already on the train. She was glad of this because it meant she could sneak on the train without them spotting her.

**AN: Please review with any comments or suggestions on plot, writing style or anything else you want to comment on! Reviews=virtual hugs!**

**Bye for now,**

**Pineapple**


	2. Chapter 2

**AN:Here is the second installment to Strength. I'm sorry it has been a while but I've had 2 speaking assesments and 2 writing assesments on top of all my usual homework so there's my rubbish excuse. Again, I do not own anything you recognise and sadly probably never will. **

Hermione's POV

I managed to get on the train and to the Head's compartment without being seen by anyone who might be able to recognise me even with my new look. All the way there I was thanking Merlin that I was Head girl and Draco was the Head boy. I didn't think I would have been able to cope if it had been anyone else. Since I was pretty early, Draco wasn't there yet so I got my trunk up to the overhead storage section and set up my iPod speakers. I had charmed all of my muggle electronics to be able to work in Hogwarts this summer since I would be able to use them in the Head's dorm. I had even brought a TV, DVD player and a load of DVDs of my favourite TV programmes. It was lucky that the Head's compartment was soundproof because otherwise the whole train would have gone deaf from the volume I was playing y favourite tunes at. This was why I hardly noticed Draco come in and he had to yell to get my attention. I then turned down my speakers so we could have a proper chat, since we hadn't done so since last year because my step-father banned me from sending or receiving owls to or from anyone but Dumbledore.

"I must say, I'm loving the new look." He said as he shoved his trunk up to the storage and sat down next to me.

"Really, well that's a good sign. Personally, I like the stuff I did but the other stuff...well"

"Like being too skinny for your liking. Just so you know, it is barely noticeable and we can fatten you up again this year can't we."

"Can you, like, read my mind or something?"

"Something...there's something else you don't like. Revealiamus"

"Oh no, you can't do that."

"I think you'll find that I just did. Oh Merlin. What did he do to you?"

"It's not really that bad."

"Oh yes it is." He frowned as I desperately tried to cover up the bruises that had suddenly appeared all over my body.

"He got drunk a couple of times, that's all. Now, change them back before someone walks in."

"Fine. Coveliamus. You know I'm here if you need someone to talk to."

I cut him off. "I don't" I knew he was just trying to be nice but it was a touchy subject for me.

"Okay then." He said dubiously. I hastily changed the subject and we talked for the next hour about weird different things that would have bored anyone else but seemed to be important to us. We both knew that it wasn't the topics that were important though, it was the time we were spending together.

Dramione...Dramione...Dramione...Dramione...Dramione

After about two hours of chatting and occasionally singing along to the songs we both knew (yes, Draco was a fan of a lot of muggle music), there was a knock at the door.

"Mione, are you in there?" Uh oh, Ron.

"Hermione, are you OK?" And Harry, concerned as ever. Though I wonder why it took them two hours to come looking for me.

Reluctantly I replied, "Yeah, I'm in here, and yes I'm fine Harry. Come on in." While I was speaking, Draco and I were shuffling around so we weren't sat next to each other but opposite since the boys didn't know about us being together and all that. They didn't even know we were friends.

"So, what did you want?" I asked to try and speed the conversation on. Harry managed to tear his glaring eyes away from Draco for a second to answer me.

"We just wanted to check you were on the train okay."

"Well I am. Anything else?"

"Yeah actually, how come you didn't even come and say hi to us before retreating up here?" That was Ron being his usual grumpy self.

"I had a headache and I wanted to be by myself for a bit anyway. How come it took you two 2 hours to realise that I wasn't there?" I retorted.

Harry answered trying to stop an argument flaring. "We didn't. We started walking down about 5 minutes after the train left the station but we kept getting stopped and asked to come into carriages and stuff so well you know what it's like."

"Yeah I suppose." Harry sighed audibly; it looked like his technique had worked.

"How come you've changed your looks Mione?" Or not. Obviously, Ron was in one of those moods today where he was going to argue with everything. Maybe, me not saying hi contributed to that. Whoops!

"I was fed up with the others. I didn't like how bookwormish they made me look."

"But you are a bookworm. Why wouldn't you want to look like one?" Ron said this as though he was obviously confused.

I tried to explain with the simplest words that "I don't want to be judged straight away as a must-not-talk-to bookworm. I just want someone to get to know me for who I am." He was still confused but he let it drop.

There was an uncomfortable silence but Harry broke it with "You should come back to the compartment with us. I think Ginny wants a girl to talk to."

"Ok, sure. Let me just put my robes on so I'm ready for when we get to school and we'll go. Malfoy, remember, we have to wait until all the students are on their way up to school before we can leave."

As I slipped my robes over my head I heard Draco mutter something that sounded like "Do I look thick?" Thankfully, neither of the boys had heard him otherwise there would have undoubtedly been a huge fight. I shot an apologetic look at Draco and followed the boys out the door.

Dramione...Dramione...Dramione...Dramione...Dramione

Ginny didn't really want to talk about much, just our summers and why I didn't write to her. I made up some pathetic excuse and aimed to keep the conversation on her holidays which, from what I gathered, seemed to have just been spent yelling at Ron and snogging Harry. Well, at least one of us had a good time. She was also wittering something about a ball and dress shopping and fun all in the same sentence. I was going to correct her and say that that couldn't possibly be right but I really didn't have the energy.

**AN: Thank you for reading. Please review with any comments on style or plot or anything else you might like to add after the tone. (BTW you will receive a virtual hug this time) beeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeep**


	3. Author's NotePLEASE READ!

I know that no one likes to read Author's note chapters but this is important.  
I need ideas because I have no idea where this story is going.  
So if you have any ideas please let me know if you want me to use them or feel free to ask for rights to this plot so far...I know it isn't much but hey.  
So any ideas TELL ME otherwise this story is going to be abandoned until someone gives me some, i come up with some myself (not likely) or someone else rewrites it.

I'm really sorry about this but it had to be done,

Pineapple


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